Sessions 13, 14, 15, 16

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Sessions 13, 14, 15, 16

• Qualitative and quantitative research

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Session 13 Qualitative vs quantitative research
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Preparation

• Prepare your arguments for or against the topic
• That qualitative research is better than
  quantitative research
• First three speakers 3 minutes each
• Final speaker 4 minutes

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Audience

• Your role is
• to identify points for clarification,
  elaboration, further inquiry or debate
• To provide feedback to individuals and to the
  teams

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Ethics and Publication
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Ethics in Conducting Research
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Research Merit

• justifiable by potential benefit
• appropriate methods
• thorough study of current literature
• conducted or supervised by persons with suitable
  experience, qualifications and competence

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Research Integrity

• searching for knowledge and understanding
• following recognised principles of research
  conduct
• conducting research honestly, and
• disseminating and communicating results, whether
  favourable or unfavourable, in ways that permit
  scrutiny and contribute to public knowledge and
  understanding.

9
Justice

• process of recruiting participants is fair
• no unfair burden of participation on particular
  groups
• fair distribution of benefits of participation
• no exploitation of participants, and
• fair access to the benefits of research.

10
Beneficence

• Likely benefit must justify any risks of harm or
  discomfort
• Likely benefit may be to participants, the wider
  community, or both
• Where there are no likely benefits to
  participants, the risk to participants should be
  lower than would be ethically acceptable where
  there are such likely benefits.

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Respect

• Due regard for the welfare, beliefs, perceptions,
  customs and cultural heritage of participants
• Respect for privacy, confidentiality and cultural
  sensitivities of the participants and their
  communities.
• Due scope to the capacity of human beings to make
  their own decisions.
• Empowering and protecting participants unable to
  make their own decisions/having diminished
  capacity to do so

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Minimising Risk

• Risk is the potential for harm, discomfort or
  inconvenience, including
• the likelihood that a harm (or discomfort or
  inconvenience) will occur and
• the severity of the harm, including its
  consequences.

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Requirements for Consent

• Participation must be voluntary, and based on
  adequate understanding of the proposed research
  and implications of participation.
• Consent may be expressed orally, in writing or by
  some other means (for example, return of a
  survey, or conduct implying consent), depending
  on
• the nature, complexity and risk of the research
  and
• the participants personal and cultural
  circumstances.

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Information Requirements

• Participants should be informed of such things
  as
• alternatives to participation
• how the research will be monitored
• provision of services to participants adversely
  affected by the research
• how privacy and confidentiality will be protected
• their right to withdraw from further
  participation at any stage, along with any
  implications of withdrawal

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Vulnerable Groups

• Women who are pregnant and the human foetus
• People highly dependent on medical care who may
  be unable to give consent
• People with a cognitive impairment, an
  intellectual disability, or a mental illness
• People who may be involved in illegal activities
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
• People in other countries

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Ethics in Publishing Research Work
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• Intellectual ownership of research work is shared
  by all not only those who have made significant
  intellectual or scholarly contributions to that
  research.
• The significance of the contribution made is the
  only relevant criterion for making such
  judgments. Status (e.g., student, supervisor),
  time or effort expended, and other such
  considerations are irrelevant.

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• Student-supervisor co-authorships constitute a
  special case (power and research experience
  differential)
• In recognition, a paper co-authored with a
  student would normally list the student as first
  author (except in exceptional circumstances)

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• It is unethical for supervisors to accept
  co-authorship of students publications if they
  have not provided significant intellectual input
  to the work on which these are based.
• Equally, if a student receives significant
  intellectual input to his/her work from more
  experienced researchers (e.g., significant
  guidance on the research aims, design, analysis,
  or interpretation), it would be unethical for the
  student to publish the work independently

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• Less experienced researchers can find it
  difficult to judge whether the contributions made
  by others to their work is intellectually
  significant.
• The significance of a contribution is generally
  seen in the impact it has had on a work. Thus, if
  a contribution has determined, or clearly altered
  
• the rationale for, or research questions
  addressed in, a study,
• the design of the study,
• the analyses performed in the study, or
• the interpretation of the study outcomes
• it is significant regardless of the time invested
  in making it.

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Session 14 Mixed methods
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Session Outline

• Strengths and weaknesses of quantitative research
  and qualitative research (debate)
• Mixed methods
• Philosophical underpinning
• Historical background
• Distinguishing feature
• Designs

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Quantitative and qualitative research methods
differ

• in
• their analytical objectives
• the types of questions they pose
• the types of data collection instruments they
  use
• the forms of data they produce
• the degree of flexibility built into study
  design

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Historical background

• Quantitative research dominated education until
  1970s
• Qualitative research gradually (very slowly)
  gained acceptance from 1970s to 2000
• The period 1970-2000 was known as the period of
  the paradigm wars
• By 2005, general acceptance for mixed methods

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Positioning in the qualitative/quantitative debate

• The purist
• Qualitative and quantitative methods are
  incompatible (grounded in different ontologic and
  epistemologic assumptions)
• Advocate mono-method studies
• The situationalist
• Both approaches have merit for answering
  different types of research question
• Advocate mono-method studies but accept the two
  approaches as complementary
• The pragmatist
• Dichotomy is false many associations with each
  paradigm erroneous (e.g., experiments must be
  quantitative)
• Advocate mixed-method approaches

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Mixed methods

• Basic idea combine the methods to maximise
  strengths and minimise weaknesses
• Philosophical underpinning pragmatism (what
  works)
• Most important point is that the research
  question(s) drive the paradigm and the method
  (not vice versa)

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Distinctions between two approaches

• Variables vs cases
• Variable-oriented analysis good for finding
  relationships among variables in large
  population based on measurement
• Case-oriented analysis good for finding
  specific, concrete, patterns in small sets of
  instances sensitive to context, process, lived
  experience, complexity, in-depth and holistic
  understanding

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Mixed method designs

• Triangulation design
• Embedded design
• Explanatory design (eg R Watson survey then
  interviews)
• Exploratory design (eg ISPP outcomes of drug
  rehab standards)
• These differ in terms of ordering of data
  collection, balancing of importance and strategy
  for combining of data

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Session 15 Writing Research Proposals
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Purposes of a Research Proposal

• Help clarify your interests and objectives
• Establish the significance of the proposed
  research, in light of previous theory and
  research
• Allow supervisors to provide advice

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Typical Components of a Research Proposal

• Title/Abstract
• Introduction/Context
• Conceptual Framework/Literature Review
• Study Rationale and Aims/Questions
• Methods
• References
• Appendices

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Title and Abstract

• Title concise but thorough statement of the
  topic or problem to be addressed in the study
• Abstract Concise, coherent summary of proposed
  study
• Statement of the problem or topic addressed
• Proposed research design and data collection
  procedures
• Data analysis methods

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Introduction/Context

• Outline your problem/topic area
• Establish the importance of the problem/topic
  (why it is worth pursuing)
• Set a meaningful context for the area of
  investigation (background to current research
  interest)
• Define key terms and concepts

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Conceptual Framework/Literature Review

• Concise summary of previous empirical and
  theoretical work in the area
• Should lead systematically towards your rationale
  and research aims or hypotheses
• Should establish the relation between your
  research aims to significant literature and
  recent (or current) research in your field
• Explicit rationale should be presented for any
  conclusions you reach in the literature review

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Study Rationale and Specific Aims/Questions

• The transition from the conclusions you reached
  in your review to your rationale is smooth and
  orderly
• Aims, questions, and hypotheses (if any) flow
  logically from your rationale, (a therefore
  statement)

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Method

• Research Approach
• Sample
• Study Design
• Instruments/Protocols
• Data Collection Procedures
• Data Analysis Procedures
• Conformity to Standards for Ethical Research
  Practice
• Proposed Timeline

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References and Appendices

• Use of a consistent referencing style
• Notes on APA style
• Appendices should include copies of any
  non-commercial stimulus materials and measures
  used, and any other information that could not be
  included in the main body of the proposal
• Assignment 1 is designed for you to practice and
  receive feedback on standards of writing and
  referencing

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Session 15
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Proposal writing

• In this session your have an opportunity to seek
  feedback from each other on your first draft of
• Your research question
• Your approach
• Your proposed method
• Your statement of significance

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Session 16 Closing
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Next steps

• Assignment 1 expectations
• Assignment 2 expectations
• Support
• Feedback